Queens of Hills and Sea
by TheWarlock'sBowtie
Summary: At the feast honoring Mary and Francis's engagement, a strange woman from Mary's past comes to court. She brings with her a warning of a threat to Mary's safety. Will Francis, Bash, and this strange girl be able to save the Queen of Scotland before it is too late?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Mary looked out over the hall. This feast was in her honor. Hers and Francis's. To honor their engagement.

_It's about time, _Mary thought to herself. She and Francis were in love, there was no doubt about that, but their engagement had not been "right for France" until then.

Francis was on her left, the king on his. Catherine, who looked very put out, was on Mary's right. Bash sat on the other side of the king. Various nobles and Mary's ladies were seated and eating at the tables below.

All of a sudden, the room went silent as a page rushed in and slammed the doors behind him. He stood against them panting.

Henry stood.

"We have a visitor waiting at the gate," the page announced when he caught his breath.

"Well who is it?" the king demanded.

"A sailor from the pirate ship _The Night's Pride._"

There was a gasp throughout the room. _The Night's Pride_ was the most infamous pirate vessel in the entire world. It patrolled the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. They were ruthless. Sailors who managed to escape said that _The Night_'_s Pride _was faster than any ship they'd ever encountered and that it would come out of no where.

The pirates attacked any naval vessel that they came across, save for ships with women and children, Scottish ships, and recently French as well.

The captain of _The Night's Pride_ was a man named McCloud and it was a name every sailor feared.

And so, the entire room sat tensely and silently, as a there was a banging on the grand doors. They flew open, sending the page sprawling. The figure stalked to the center of the room.

And there, standing in front of the court, was a woman.

She was dressed in tight black pants, boots up to her knees. A billowy white shirt was tucked in and cinched with a large black belt, on which hung a sheathed sword and a knife. Over all this was a midnight blue cloak, the hood partially concealing her face and the hem reaching the floor.

She threw back the hood exposing her face. Fiery red hair fell in waves down her back. A freckled, sun-kissed face held bright green eyes, framed with high brows and long lashes. Red lips were pursed under a small nose.

Mary barely concealed a gasp of recognition but the mysterious woman did not spare the Queen of Scotland a glance. Yet.

"_You_ are a pirate?" the king said incredulously.

"Is that so hard to believe?" the girl retorted before adding sarcastically, "My liege."

Henry shook his head in reluctant acceptance before continuing. "What are you here for?"

"To congratulate Francis and Mary on their engagement of course," the pirate responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Henry shared a look with both Francis and Bash. The two brothers stood on either side of their father. "Has your captain sent you?" Francis asked.

"My captain?" the girl laughed. "I think there's been a misunderstanding.

"Do enlighten us," Bash said, impatiently.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Briar McCloud, captain of the pirate ship _The Night's Pride._" She made a point of bowing low, flourishing her cloak, a mischievous smile on her face.

Only Bash and Francis noticed the look passed between Mary and Briar McCloud, but neither man could decipher its meaning.

"Guards!" Henry shouted, "Seize her!"

Guards began to rush towards her and Briar whipped out her sword, preparing for a fight.

"Stop!" Mary shouted, standing. She held up her skirts as she descended the three stairs of the dais. The guards immediately fell back, but stood hesitantly, swords drawn

She made her way to Briar. Francis tensed but Henry stopped him from going after her.

Mary stood in front of Briar. The Queen put her hand over the hand with which Briar was holding her sword.

"It's been a long time, Mary," Briar said. The pain on both girls' faces was obvious.

"Too long," Mary responded.

They stared at each other before Briar's sword clattered to the floor.

Briar McCloud, pirate captain, and Mary, Queen of Scotland, hugged each other as if they would never let go.

Briar sat with Mary throughout the rest of the feast. The two did not talk much, as Francis and Bash were watching them both.

Soon, however, Mary was standing at the door, Francis at her side, Bash and Briar behind them.

"Thank you for coming this evening," Mary said as shook the last person's hand.

Finally, they were all gone. Mary sighed in relief as she left, taking Briar's hand.

"We have much to talk about, old friend," the Queen commented as they left through the grand doors. To anyone walking by, Briar looked noticeably uncomfortable.

"So you left the convent to become a pirate," Mary said, stiff and tense.

"No," Briar responded. "It's not like the way you think it is. I didn't leave the convent. Not by my will."

Mary stopped them short, pulling Briar around to face her. Francis and Bash also stopped a few paces away, ready to intervene, should the pirate not be who Mary thought she was.

"Then tell me!" Mary nearly shouted. "Tell me why I woke up one morning to find that my best friend was gone, not even having left a note."

Briar looked like she didn't want respond, but Mary continued, "I spent weeks and weeks looking for you!"

"I was kidnapped!" Briar shouted back. Mary started. "How could you even think that I would leave you willingly! You were the only person that ever cared for me in my entire life, you think I would just up and go?!"

"What – What happened? Who kidnapped you?"

"Bounty-hunters. You and I spent so much time together, they thought I was you and so they came in the night, to take me from my bed. When they realized they had the wrong person, they sold me."

"I'm so sorry," Mary shook her head, "I didn't know."

"I know you didn't," Briar said, "I had hoped you would never know."

"But you escaped," Mary said, "Why didn't you come back?"

"Do you think the convent would take me back after what had happened? I was a different person. I was no longer pure, I no longer believed in God, do you think I would be accepted? No, I had no place in the convent. I had no place anywhere except aboard my ship."

"You've always had a place with me," Mary said, sorrowfully.

Briar didn't respond to that, just smiled sadly and continued, "I contacted Mother Superior after I escaped. I told her I would not be coming back, but she agreed to send me reports. Every month she told me how you were doing, and if you were safe. Even when you left the convent and came here, I've had someone watching you for me."

"Who?"

"Lola, of course," Briar responded, "she also sends me reports of all the adventures you've been getting into."

Mary laughed slightly at this, Briar joining in, the sorrow behind them for the moment.

"I'll have to have a talk with her about that," Mary joked.

Behind them, Francis and Bash relaxed, having been tense the entire conversation.

"But I'm not just here to congratulate you, Mary," Briar was serious again, "Is there a place we can talk privately? Your princes can come, too."

Mary nodded, leading them to her room.

The four were seated around the table in Mary's room.

"I came to warn you," Briar said, staring straight into Mary's eyes.

"Warn?" Francis asked, on his guard.

"Of what?" Bash was just as tense as his brother.

"There is a pagan ceremony that they call _Aberth o Frenhines Wyryf_. The Sacrifice of a Virgin Queen. It happens every century." Briar took a deep breath and continued, "Mary you are in your prime. You are a virgin, but you are engaged. This is the exact state they want you in for their sacrifice. They have sent bounty-hunters to come and take you."

As Mary absorbed this, Francis asked, "How much time do we have before they start coming for her?"

"Not long," Briar responded, "It could be tonight, it could be tomorrow, it could be next week that they come for her. The ceremony is in three months, on the summer solstice. If we do not protect Mary, they will take her. And on that day, they will kill her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the long wait guys, hope you enjoy! Oh and I just got a fictionpress account: TheIrishFiddler so check it out! Also, my friend got one too so check her out: Athena's Wolves. **

* * *

Chapter 2

Bash and Francis posted guards outside Mary's rooms, but they really didn't need to. Briar refused to leave. The two women stayed up talking until the early hours of the morning, when Mary drifted to sleep, her head in Briar's lap.

This is how the two brothers found them later that morning, Briar staring at the wall as she had been for the past couple hours. Her green eyes looked dead in the light of morning. Mary woke.

The next few days continued like this, Briar not leaving Mary's side.

When a few days turned into a week, Mary knew that her old friend was overstaying her welcome at French court. She knew that Francis and Bash tolerated the pirate captain because of their shared concern about her welfare, but they didn't like her and they made no point to conceal it.

Briar confronted her on the morning of her eighth day at court.

"I should be leaving soon. Your boys don't like me very much and my sailors are probably anxious to get back on the open seas. You'll write to me?"

"Of course," Mary responded.

"I would like to stay until the summer solstice has passed, but even I miss the sea."

"I'll be fine," the Scottish queen assured her pirate friend, "We'll exchange letters, I'll assure you I'm safe, and I will have a guard until the summer solstice has passed. All will be well, old friend."

Briar nodded hesitantly before ducking behind the changing screen. She emerged dressed in the same tight back pants and boots she'd been wearing when she arrived. She quite liker billowy shirt and today's was blue, over which she wore a tightly laced under-bust corset.

"I should prepare a horse. It's a day's ride to the port. I will be back to say farewell when I'm ready to leave." She left Mary standing in the anteroom.

In the halls, Briar passed the two brothers who were talking in hushed voices. They didn't notice as she came silently up behind them.

When she greeted them, they started, hands going to their weapons. Bash looked at her with special distrust, a kind of distrust that Briar found most amusing.

"Hello, boys," she chirped, "Just wanted to let you know that I will be leaving this fine establishment today. You will never have to see me again. That is, if you do your job and protect Mary. If anything happens to her, I will come back for you and I _will _ kill you. You have my word."

As she walked away, from behind her she heard, in a voice that was unmistakably Bash, "Now why would we trust the word of a pirate?"

Briar stopped dead in her tracks and whirled, red hair flying. She was steaming with rage. Despite the fact that Bash was much taller than her, she rushed towards him, pressing him against the wall, holding up by the collar. Behind them, Francis watched amusedly.

"Can't trust the word of a pirate you say?" she growled. "You may only be the king's _bastard_, but you know nothing of the world outside the French court. You know nothing of anything but a privileged life. So let me help you."

She pulled out a dagger from somewhere between her breasts, which only served to draw Bash's eyes to her rather appealing cleavage.

All thoughts of her body went out of his bind as she pressed the small but sharp dagger against his cheek, right below his eye.

"Pirates have a code," Briar continued, "One that we live by. One that we never break. A pirate never breaks their word. Especially not me. Especially when we're talking about the only person I care about in this entire God-forsaken world. Remember that, bastard boy."

Briar let him down and he sighed in relief, happy to have the knife back where it was before and not by his face.

The beautiful pirate stalked off through the corridor.

Briar finished saddling a horse in the palace stables and went back to Mary's rooms to say goodbye.

Mary wasn't in the anteroom where she had been when Briar left, so the captain asked Mary's ladies whether they'd seen their queen.

"Not since this morning," Lola said and walked off with Greer and Kenna.

Briar began to panic. She pounded on Mary's door, shouting.

Francis showed up, asking about the noise. Bash was right behind.

"Have you seen Mary?" Briar asked them, panicking, their earlier altercation forgotten.

The two brothers shook their heads, starting to share the same frightened look. Finally, Briar, kicked open Mary's door.

It slammed open, rattling things on the walls. The room was empty.

As Briar frantically searched in all the attached rooms, Francis went to the window. It was open.

"Come here," Francis said to the others. They joined him. Below them, three stories below was a pile of rope, a crushed thorn bush, and a scrap of cloth.

"They took her," Briar breathed out, deflated, "They took Mary."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the long wait everyone, I've been kind of bust. But here ya go, enjoy! Oh, also, go check out my fictionpress acout: thefiddlingwriter. **

Chapter 3

Briar whirled on her heel, a murderous look on her face. She stalked from the room.  
"That's it?" Francis called after her, "After all of this, your just going to leave?"  
"Leave?" Briar said, her voice very low, "Who said anything about leaving? I'm going after her."  
"Take us with you," Bash declared, sounding final.  
"Absolutely not," Briar shook her head, "You would only slow me down."  
Francis moved forward. "I order you to take us with you. If we do not go with you, then you do not go at all."  
Briar narrowed her eyes at the blonde man. "Well then, little princeling, I suppose you'll have your wish. I admire your courage."  
Francis smirked at his brother, who rolled his eyes.  
"We leave in an hour," Briar announced, "Pack lightly, bring weapons, and say your goodbyes. Meet me in the stables."

Exactly one hour later, Bash arrived at the stables. Briar was already there, stroking the horse. The dapple mare was already saddled and Briar had hooked up her bag.  
Silently, Bash began to saddle his own horse.  
When he was finished, he turned to Briar. She was watching him silently, arms crossed.  
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier," Bash said.  
"It's alright. It's a common misperception about pirates. Many people think that we're dirty, lying thieves. But we're really not. Most pirates follow the Pirate's Code. It's our rule book."  
"No batter what you follow, you're still thieves," Bash shot back.  
She laughed, "I suppose we are. I don't do it for the money though."  
Before Bash could ask what she did do it for, Francis walked in.  
"You're late," Briar comment.  
"Oh, give me a break," he responded, "I had to come up with an excuse for not only myself for my mother but also for Bash to feed my father."  
Briar didn't reply, but swung up onto her horse. "I saddled yours already."  
Francis hooked up his bag and then the two brothers mounted their horses. They raced out of the stables, Briar in front, her fiery wave of hair flying behind her.

They rode at a fast pace for the rest of the afternoon, only taking short breaks for the horses to rest.  
They arrived at the port side town that evening.  
They walked their horses through the hustle and bustle of the dimly lit town.  
Once they got to the docks, Francis made his way over to the postmaster.  
"I'll give you twenty franks ifs you make sure these horses get back to the palace safely," he said.  
"Why should I trust you?" The port master said. He was a gruff looking man of average intelligence.  
"Because I am the crown prince of France," he replied quietly. At this the port master uncrossed his arms, straightened, and then began to bow.  
Francis stopped him, looking around to make sure no one hard seen. "There's no need for that," he said, "You'll get the horses there safely?"  
"I promise your highness," the man assured as Francis slipped him twenty gold Franks.  
He motioned to Bash, who made his way over, the here horses in tow.

After Bash had handed over the reigns, he looked up. Briar was preparing a rowboat. Her ship was anchored at the mouth of the bay.  
"Get in boys!" She yelled at them, "Or I'm leaving without you!"  
The two brothers shared a look before rushing over and hopping into e rowboat. Francis tumbled slightly in a most undignified manner. Bash and Briar chuckled.  
The pirate gripped the oars and rowed.  
"Do you need any help?" Francis asked politely.  
Briar's only response was a raised eyebrow and a glance in his direction. She went back to staring out across the moonlight ocean.  
Soon, they arrived at the ship.  
There was a shout from above them, "Captain's back! Lower the ladder!"  
A role ladder dropped down, splashing into the water beside their small boat.  
"After you," Briar inclined her head to the rope ladder.  
"Brother, you're the prince, you go up first," Bash cleared his throat.  
Francis rolled his eyes and grabbed onto the ladder, placing his feet on the wooden planks, hand over hand on the ropes.  
When he poked his head over the side of the ship, a gruff voice said, "You're not the captain."  
"Uh, no," Francis responded tactfully, "I'm Francis, Crown Prince of -"  
However, he didn't finish his sentence because a strong hand etched around and yanked him into the boat. A knife was pressed to his throat.  
"I know who you are," the man said, "What I don't know is why you're. And you're going to tell me or I'm going to slit your throat and throw you off the side of this boat."  
In front of Francis was a a hulk of a man. Clothed in only trousers and a bandana around his bicep, the man was very threatening.  
Before Francis could respond, Bash was thrown to the floor next to him.  
"And you are?" another man asked. He was smaller and had a shirt on, but with his razor sharp falchion sword, he still looked pretty threatening.  
He pointed the sword at Bash who sighed. "How inconvenient," he muttered.  
Just then, someone swung from a rope, very gracefully, onto the deck.  
There Briar stood, hips cocked to one side, an eyebrow raised, her green eyes watching them amusedly.  
"Flint, Bones," she said, "Lower your weapons, they're here under my protection."  
Immediately, the two sheathed their swords and stood at attention.  
Francis offered Bash a hand and the latter stood, brushing off dirt.  
All of the other men on the ship were watching them.  
"Boys," she shouted, "Francis and Bash will be traveling with us for the next few months. We sail with the first tide tomorrow morning."  
"Where are we going, Captain?" a man shouted.  
"Ask me in the morning, sailor," Briar responded.  
Except for the two men that so rudely greeted the royals when they arrived, every one went back to work.  
"Francis, Bash," she said. "Meet Flint, my first mate." She gestured to the man without a shirt.  
"And Bones, my master gunner."  
The two inclined their heads but did not acknowledge them in any other way.  
Briar crossed the deck, ascending the stairs to the quarterdeck.  
She stood behind the wheel, watching as all her sailors prepared to set sail the next day.  
Bash and Francis stood behind her. Without looking back at them, she said, "While on this ship, you are no longer the heir to the French throne, nor are you the king's bastard. You are no more and no less than any other man. Most likely I will not need it, but if I ask you to work, you will work. Do I make myself clear?"  
With her back to them, she didn't see their nods of consent, but she sensed it.  
"Good," she sighed, "Let me show you to your cabin."  
She led them down the stairs onto the main deck. Under the quarterdeck, there was a small door. Briar swung it open and ducked inside, motioning for the two to follow.  
A short hallway was dimly illuminated by a lantern, the candle flickering.  
Briar motioned to the door on the left side. "You two will have to share a room. Generally, that is my first mate's room, but Flint prefers to sleep with the crew. I'm right here, across the hall. Get some rest, and do try to get your see legs quickly."  
With that, she opened the door to her cabin and disappeared.

Francis and bash entered their cabin. A single bed was in the corner. At the end, was a sea chest for clothes and trinkets. A was basin was across the room. There were candle lanterns around the room.  
There was a nock on the door. Bash went to answer it, pulling it open to reveal a tall, skinny man.  
"Cap told me to ask you whether you would prefer a hammock or another cot," he stated.  
"A cot, please," Bash replied and the man left.  
A few seconds later, he and another man were back, carrying a cot between them.  
Dragging it in, they re-arranged the other bed so the two were next to each other, with the chest between them.  
"That one there was the Captain's bed," one of the men stated, pointing to the bed that was already there, "This one was in this room. But Briar prefers to sleep in a hammock, so she moved her bed to this room and the other one to storage."  
"How fascinating," Bash replied, feigning interest. The only part he focused on was the fact that Briar slept in a hammock, which he found quite strange.  
The two sailors left, leaving Francis and Bash alone.  
"I hope she know where we're going," Francis muttered as they prepared for sleep.

Mary woke slowly, her head pounding. Looking around, she saw she was in a cell. It was lit with only a single candle, so she couldn't see much else of her surroundings. Grimy seawater thinly blanketed the floor of her cell. She felt a slight rocking and she figured she was in a boat.  
Mary, Queen of Scotland sighed and closed her eyes.  
Briar, Francis, Bash, one of you. Please find me soon.


End file.
